East Coast Appliance & Electronics: The Discount King

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Remodeling a kitchen can add to the value of your home and make it easier to sell, especially if the space is populated with aging appliances and old counter-tops. That being said, if you are contemplating a kitchen remodeling project as part of the plan to sell your home, there are also several commonly made mistakes that can turn costly and potentially make your home harder to sell.

These mistakes include:

• Doing an “Architectural Digest” remodel – The value of your home and the return on investment for a high-end remodeling project will be limited by the comparable prices of homes in your neighborhood, also known as “comps”. Before starting a remodeling project, find out where your home currently stands in value versus other comps in the area. The discrepancy in prices can reveal a lot about how much your home will appreciate in value after a remodel; an older home that is deeply discounted from other comps might benefit from the addition of new appliances and other upgrades while one that is priced close to other comps probably won’t appreciate as much from a kitchen project.
• Trend-following – The nature of most trends is that they will be replaced by newer trends after a relatively short period of time. While kitchen trends can cover numerous design aspects, they are most commonly related to the selection of specific colors for cabinetry and appliances. Trying to sell a home with a kitchen style that has gone out of fashion can actually make for a tougher sale as the new buyers negotiate with an eye on getting rid of “old” appliances.
• Personalizing the kitchen – While you may love a kitchen that looks and feels like diner, not all of your prospective buyers will. Much like going with trendy appliance colors, a “themed” kitchen may not add a lot of value, unless you find home buyers that truly appreciate your vision.

The process of planning a kitchen remodeling project for a home sale is a different than one where owners plan on staying for the long term. For the most cost-efficient remodeling project, new appliances as well as the overall design should stay fairly basic to afford maximal appreciation while appealing to as wide an audience as possible.

Replacing appliances can be one of the larger expenditures you will make in your home, the planning of which can prove to be a daunting task simply due to challenges of setting a budget and deciding on whether the project is the best use of your family’s hard earned money. What if, instead of being an expenditure, the replacement of these appliances actually turned into an investment that allowed you to save money on a monthly basis? Better yet, what if the level of savings was enough to eventually cover a substantial percentage of the cost of purchasing the appliances that were a part of that project?

While it may sound too good to be true, buying ENERGY STAR rated appliances can do just that. Here’s how:

According to ENERGY STAR, a household would save approximately $148 per year by replacing a standard sized refrigerator manufactured in 1990 with an ENERGY STAR rated refrigerator. The savings jump to $200 per year if a refrigerator from the 80’s is replaced.

Replacing a dishwasher that was manufactured before 1994 can save about $40 per year, which covers saving in water and electricity usage. Replacing older models pushes savings toward $50 per year.

According to the Department of Energy the cost of running an old furnace, especially in the colder areas of the country, can amount to about to about $1,000 per year, or about half of a household’s total expenditures on utility bills. An ENERGY STAR rated replacement furnace can cut the yearly energy bill by half, or about $500 per year.

With yearly savings of approximately $700 on just replacing these three types of appliances, a planned expenditure can start to look like an investment. Better still, households can achieve even more savings with the replacement of old clothes washers, air conditioners, and other dated appliances.